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Increase


How many of us have prayed for financial deliverance? How many of us have had faith that the Lord would give us that deliverance? As Christians, I am certain that we all have. "God, why do I struggle so much financially? X amount of dollars is not enough to live off of. Lord, I need financial deliverance!" Those are all things I've cried out and prayed before. I'm also the one who takes what little I have and puts it into the offering bucket, praying desperately along with pastor to press it down and shake it up so that it will be returned unto me tenfold. To what avail? The truth is, I have done absolutely nothing to change my financial situation. Week after week, month after month, year after year I have prayed desperately for increase, and like so many others, yet I have been left wanting. 


As I read the scriptures above I suddenly remembered The Parable Of The Talents (Matthew 25:14-30). This passage is about a man who decided that while he was off on a journey, he would turn over his possessions to his three servants (slaves). Two of the three servants took what was given to them by their master and returned it to him twofold. The Third buried his and only returned what was given to him. If we look at our wages in contrast to this parable we can see that God has given us our Talents. What we do with those Talents is up to us as well as the increase. If God cannot trust you to manage what you have He will not bless you with what you want. If your mentality is to earn a penny and spend a dime you do not have the financial maturity to handle more. Often times you will hear someone say "If only I could break even. Then I'd be okay." Ask yourself this; Why can't you break even? Are you overextending your budget? Personally, my issue is dining out more than I should. Spending ten dollars here and there on fast food when I should actually save money and cook at home. Every day we have the opportunity to do things differently, every cent we make is a new beginning to financial independence. "I'll just go get a better paying job", a better paying job will not change your circumstances if you continue to frivolously spend and mismanage your money.



Can you live without the internet? No? Can you live without Netflix, HBO, Hulu, (Amazon) Prime Video? If you break down the average cost of the aforementioned services that's a possible forty dollars extra you are spending a month. Forty dollars you could be saving. If you step back and analyze exactly where you're spending your money each month you can pinpoint all of the things that are unnecessary and begin the process of increasing your Talents. Sometimes the ends that don't seem to meet are because of our thoughtless spending. Increase is not about winning the lottery or randomly being handed money out of the clear blue sky. Increase is something you have to actively work towards. It is nothing something that will come easy. In fact, it is probably one of the hardest things you will have to work on. Budgeting; staying within your budget, investing, and saving can seem like an uphill battle, however, I can promise you the reward for your efforts will be the increase you so desperately pray for. After all, we are not only called to be faithful we are also called to be active in our faith.






Disclaimer: I am in no way compensated for advertisement of the mentioned services. 

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